CSK vs GT: Fans Fear IPL 2023 Final Will be MS Dhoni's Last as a Player

The rain gods paid a visit to Ahmedabad on Sunday, leading to the Indian Premier League (IPL) final between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings getting postponed and shifted to the reserve day.

As per the new schedule, the eagerly anticipated face-off will again be held tonight at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Keeping aside the on-field development, soon after the match was moved to the reserve day, fans began anticipating this season would be Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s last in the IPL.

And they referenced the 2019 World Cup semi-final between India and New Zealand which was Dhoni’s final appearance in the Blue jersey.

Due to heavy showers in Manchester, the World Cup semi-final was halted and then resumed the next day.

Following India’s 18-run defeat in the important clash, Dhoni bid adieu to international cricket.

Ahead of the beginning of this year’s IPL, speculations about Dhoni’s IPL retirement gained much traction, considering the fact that the legendary captain will ring his 42nd birthday this July. But the Chennai captain has not yet confirmed anything from his side.

Pulling the string of the 2019 World Cup semi-final, a fan tweeted, “Last time when the match was shifted to a reserve day, Dhoni declared his retirement.”

Another fan found it hard to digest the coincidence and said that God might want to delay Dhoni’s retirement, not only in the Indian colours but also in the Yellow.

After the decision was finalised about the reserve day, a cricket enthusiast wrote on Twitter, “There is a reserve day for the IPL 2023 final and Dhoni’s retirement.”

The rain came into play in Ahmedabad much before the toss of the IPL final.

The scenario remained unchanged till 11:02 pm local when a declaration on the stadium’s giant screen read, “The IPL final has moved to the reserve day, 29 May at 7:30 PM. Physical tickets for today’s game will be valid for tomorrow. Please keep the tickets intact and safe.”

The rain can play a spoilsport on the reserve day as well. As predicted by weather.com, there is a 16 per cent probability of rain on Monday evening. But the sky is expected to get clear after 8:30 pm local time.